SOPHIA LILLIS as YOUNG CAMILLE
The first character we meet in Sharp Objects is the younger version of Camille Preaker. She's a tomboy molded by the pain of losing her sister and best friend, Marian. Young Camille is played by IT star Sophia Lillis. The young actress's resemblance to Amy Adams is so uncanny, some people thought she was a CGI version of the star. Lillis will next be seen starring in a 2019 Nancy Drew movie.

Photo: HBO

ELIZA SCANLEN as AMMA CRELLIN
Amma Crellin is Camille's shifty younger sister. The two reunite under strange circumstances: Camille runs into Amma dressed up in her wild "civvies" in the park, and doesn't recognize the angelic little girl she sees around the house. Newcomer Eliza Scanlen has appeared in a couple of Aussie soaps, but Sharp Objects marks her first major role -- and she skates away with the show.

Photo: HBO

LULU WILSON as MARIAN CRELLIN
Though we only see Marian in flashbacks, her ghost haunts all of Sharp Objects. We see her pop up in the background of frames and haunt Camille's memories. Marian is played by young actress Lulu Wilson, who has appeared in a slew of horror properties.

Photo: HBO

APRIL BRINSON as JODES
Amma is followed around Wind Gap by her two BFFs: Kelsey and Jodes. Coincidentally, Kelsey and Jodes are played by IRL sisters Violet and April Brinson. April is the elder of the two and her character, Jodes, stands out because of her dark hair (and because she's usually the butt of the other girls' jokes).

Photo: Everett Collection

VIOLET BRINSON as KELSEY
Amma is followed around Wind Gap by her two BFFs: Kelsey and Jodes. Coincidentally, Kelsey and Jodes are played by IRL sisters Violet and April Brinson. Violet Brinson plays Kelsey, the more confident of the two, and the one closer to Amma.

Photo: Everett Collection

MADISON DAVENPORT as MEREDITH
Though we don't meet Meredith in the premiere, she has an important role to play as the mystery of Sharp Objects unwinds. Madison Davenport plays Meredith with a brand of perfectly performed Southern charm that reminds one of a young Reese Witherspoon.

Photo: Everett Collection

SYDNEY SWEENEY as ALICE
Later in Sharp Objects, we'll get to know Alice, a friend from Camille's past. Alice is played by rising star Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid's Tale and Everything Sucks!)

Sharp Objects has one of the hottest casts of the summer. Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, and Chris Messina all deliver top notch performances, but if you watch closely, you might see some up-and-comers pushing themselves front and center. Sharp Objects‘ cast of young actresses feels like a who’s who of stars on the rise. Sophia Lillis, Eliza Scanlen, and Sydney Sweeney are all on their way to becoming major Hollywood stars, and Sharp Objects gives each of them an opportunity to let their talent shine.

Sharp Objects is a story about the harm done to young women and the harm young women do to themselves. Because of this, Sharp Objects offers a number of talented young actresses the opportunity to sink their teeth into some profoundly juicy material. Sophia Lillis gets to portray the younger version of Amy Adams’ Camille Preaker, and as such, she gets to show how trauma, death, and danger smack straight into Camille’s psyche. The fact that some people thought Lillis was a CGI version of Adams is only a testament to the young actress’ performance.

Before Sharp Objects, Aussie actress Eliza Scanlen had only appeared in some soaps in her homeland. In Sharp Objects she skates circles around Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson. Viewers have only had a small taste of the complex and nuanced performance that Scanlen throws down. In many ways, she has the trickiest part of the whole cast: she’s a teen girl discovering whether she’s a victim or a viper.

Elsewhere, other young actresses shine, too. Lulu Wilson plays Marian like an all-too-human angel, and in a later episode, Sydney Sweeney proves to viewers that her spectacular recent turns in The Handmaid’s Tale and Everything Sucks! were just a prelude for greater things to come. Even Amma’s ladies in waiting, her BFFs Kelsey and Jodes, find time later in the series to stand out. (If the actresses playing Kelsey and Jodes — Violet Brinson and April Brinson — look a little too much alike to you, that might be on purpose. After all, the actresses playing Kelsey and Jodes on Sharp Objectsare sisters in real life.)